WaterWorX project: WOP Zambia

Zambia - Nkana Water & Sewerage Company (NWSC)

Zambia - Southern Water and Sewerage Company Limited (SWSC)

One Water Operator Partnership, with two local partners is conducted under the framework of the WaterWorX program in Zambia. The local partners Nkana Water and Sewerage Company (Nkana WSC) and Southern Water and Sewerage Company (Southern WSC) provide water and sewerage services to about 60.000 households each. Although the companies are quite different in their set-up and geographically far apart, they have joined forces with VEI in the WaterWorX project: WOP Zambia.

This project consists of 8 individual themes, for both water utilities. Each theme is managed by a senior person of the water utility. The 8 themes are:

Human resources focuses on leadership development, staff training and improving the gender balance to ensure that the utilities are better equipped to deliver on their mandate.

Learning from each other, mentoring two other water utilities and implement international best practices is done in the peer to peer learning theme.

Non Revenue Water reduction is essential to improve water supply and increase the revenue base for both water utilities.

Water Quality is for the Zambian utilities very important. So compliance to the National standards while optimizing chemical use is the challenge in this theme.

Increase the access to water and Sanitation of the urban poor, community hygiene training and influencing urban planning makes up this theme

Customer processes are sub-optimal and not all water billed is being collected. VEI assists the two utilities in improving this.

Both local water utilities currently operate at a loss. We expect that through the interventions in the project and improving the financial processes the utilities can report a surplus at the end of the 4 year project period.